“Does Blakely know?” I asked worriedly. I was the one who killed her brother, and I felt like I should be the one to tell her. I just hoped she would be able to forgive me for it.
“I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think Copper would have said anything to her until he knew what was going on,” Splint said and moved to the other side of me. “We’re here.”
The next few minutes were sheer and total hell as I was transferred from the ambulance to a hospital bed. Every movement made the pain in my skull intensify. And then I did throw up, which only made things worse. “Please make it stop,” I begged.
River appeared in my line of sight and reached for my hand. “I’ve got you,” she said soothingly. “You should start feeling some relief momentarily.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. “You’re an angel.”
She laughed. “No, I just have the good drugs.” Then, she squeezed my hand. “You’re going to be okay.”
“I am his damn family!” I heard Copper yell from somewhere down the hall.
“Be right back,” River said quickly and let go of my hand. “You must be Mr. Summers’s uncle. He’s been asking for you. Follow me, sir.”
Copper appeared at my side moments later. His hair was a mess and he looked frazzled.
“You okay, Prez?”
“Pretty sure I should be asking you that question,” he said and exhaled heavily. “You scared the hell out of me, Game.”
“Yeah, I think I scared the hell out of me too,” I admitted. “Does Blakely know?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. I didn’t want to tell her anything until I knew what was going on.”
“I killed her brother,” I said quietly.
“You didn’t have a choice. She’ll understand,” he assured me. At the look of doubt on my face, he continued, “She herself just had to take a life to defend her own. She will understand.”
“Can you have someone bring her up here? I want to be the one to tell her.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” River said. “We need to take him for a CT scan.”
“Blakely will be here when you get back,” Copper promised. “I’ll tell her the basics and leave the details for you.”
“Thanks, Prez,” I said and closed my eyes when they wheeled me away.
* * *
As promised,Blakely was in the room waiting for me when I returned. “Oh, Grant,” she cried and rushed to my side.
“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” I said, trying to lighten the mood.
“Copper said you walked in on a home invasion at your mother’s house. Are you okay?” she asked, completely ignoring my awkward joke.
“I didn’t make it out unscathed, but from what they’ve told me so far, I’ll be okay.”
“So, what happened?”
“When I took Dani back to my mother’s house, Ben was there waiting for her,” I said and reached for her hand.
Her eyes widened in surprise. Well, one eye did. The other one was still too swollen to do much. “My brother? He did this to you?”
I swallowed thickly. There was no easy way to say it, so I just told her. “He shot Dani twice when we walked in the door. Then, he shot me at the same time I shot him.” I pointed to the side of my face. “This happened when I fell and hit the coffee table.”
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “Is she—? Is he—? Are they—?”
It was obvious she couldn’t bring herself to say the words, but I knew what she was trying to ask. “Dani was alive when the ambulance got there, but I heard she was pretty bad.” I paused and closed my eyes for a brief second before I opened them and met hers. “I’m sorry, Blakely. Ben didn’t make it.”
